Jay -
While I understand your complaint, and to some extent I agree with it,
lighten up on Kelvin a bit.
1) He admits that there's a problem.
2) He (fairly) points out that the solutions aren't simple.
You're making it sound like it's either his fault, or he likes the
situation. I know Kelvin, he's an enthusiast just like the rest of us,
and he can't get any better parts than we can.
If he says he's trying to make it a better situation, I believe him.
Chris K.
type79@ix.netcom.com wrote:
>
> Kelvin,
> So, If I understand you correctly,
> - In the interests of economy, it is better to offer a poor fitting repro than
> an expensive but correct replacement part.
> - In certain cases, your company is unable to find suitable manufacturers of
> correct replacement parts.
> - You wrote: "Many of the parts we supply are made by cottage industry
>companies
> in the UK and elsewhere." Why is your company so afraid to mention the name
> Taiwan? You don't mention it here and to my knowledge, you don't mention it in
> your catalogues.
> - For the sake of discussion, let's accept all of your statements at face
>value.
> How does that account for the poor quality soft goods that are sold? I
>purchased
> a tonneau from your company. It "fits" the car, but is not really for the
>model
> specified and has large plastic zippers that look like something from a ski
> shop.
>
> I have no problem with a company selling such items, but you should inform the
> buyer. Fancy catalogues that mimic factory parts manuals and list or picture
> almost every part for that vehicle create the illusion that all parts are
> available, correct fitting, and of high quality.
>
> Jay Fishbein
> Wallingford, CT
>
> "Dodd, Kelvin" wrote:
>
> > Andrew has some very valid points.
> >
> > At this time all suppliers are under the gun to supply good quality parts.
> > Unfortunately in many cases the market will only handle one poor quality
> > reproduction item. The alternative is to restore original components. Many
> > times this costs much more than an equivalent new reproduction item. I had
> > a vendor complain that someone almost throttled him for asking twice the
> > price of a repro bumper for a straightened and "show" chromed original.
> >
> > The MGA grille is a perfect example. There is no "definitive" original
> > shape. We have the factory drawings, and a grille made to those
> > measurements will not fit any MGA. The reproduction unit on the market is
> > not made by Moss Motors, and the market will not support two manufacturers.
> > There are some quality issues with the reproduction that we are very
> > concerned about, and there is a wealth of documentation flowing between we
> > the vendor and the manufacturer. The reproduction however retails for a
> > fraction of the cost of restoring an original. There is no question that a
> > restored original grille will probably look better and last longer than the
> > reproduction, but how many of us are willing to shell out $5-700 for a show
> > quality grille?
> >
> > The answer is brand named quality goods. Unfortunately the brand names that
> > we have relied upon are no longer supported. Lucas, AE, Vandervell,
> > Holbert/Eaton are a thing of the past, many have disapeared, others have
> > been diluted with sub-standard parts. N.O.S. is not the answer either, as
> > Kai has pointed out. I don't care how good the parts were originally, I am
> > not going to put 25 year old seals in my brake system.
> >
> > We have been in the process of taking a very hard look at the parts being
> > supplied, and purchased. We have a one year satisfaction guaranteed
> > warranty period which gets to be very expensive if the parts we send out are
> > substandard. There are enough problems supplying parts for old British cars
> > without adding known poor quality to the equation. Many of the parts we
> > supply are made by cottage industry companies in the UK and elsewhere.
> > Unfortunately in many cases there are no other alternatives as production
> > runs are small. Many of these parts may have fit problems, we have a team
> > who tries to document these problems and correct them. Once we know a part
> > is "good" it would be nice to identify to the trade and public that this is
> > a part you can depend upon. That is something that I am working on.
> >
> > regards
> >
> > Kelvin.
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